Illustration Friday : save

"i couldn't save them"

so fragile
your life
and it came to be
while I dreamed
and it seemed to me
to happen all so fast
lasting forever
and ever
you will never be
again.

The bird house in our backyard was blown open by strong winds last weekend and the baby birds that were just hatched fell from their nest and died. My daughter and I found them and could hardly bear what we had discovered. We buried the lifeless babies and placed five tiny violet flowers on their grave, there were five babies. The mama was still in her nest and flew off when I began to mend their broken home that she and the daddy bird worked so hard to build. My daughter and I tied string around the front of the birdhouse and around the back of the tree and then went inside our home sad and discouraged. I was sure the parents would leave and then I would take down that bird house so that I could replace it with a new one but later that evening we discovered the daddy returning to the entrance of his home and the mamma peeking out of the hole to receive her mate's gatherings. They were acting as if nothing had ever happened. This gave me hope and a small sense of peace that they will be okay, and so will I. These little creatures that God has given us on this earth for us to enjoy has given me strength some how by their perseverance in life itself.

"They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses; Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream."
~Ernest Dowson

~ Valaine

April 8, 2008